Management device and management system

ABSTRACT

A hop count between a management device and a management target device is calculated, and a notification destination range of an unspecified notification pertaining to a power supply mode is obtained from the management target device. On the basis of the obtained results, it is determined whether or not an unspecified notification pertaining to the power supply mode can be received from the management target device. Furthermore, on the basis of the result of the determination, the management device requests the management target device to register the management device as an individual notification destination.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to methods for managing devices havingmultiple power supply modes.

2. Description of the Related Art

Some management devices that manage management target devices, such as aprinter and a computer, periodically request information, such as statusinformation, from the management target devices. In order to respond tosuch requests from the management devices, the management target devicesneed to be supplied with a certain amount of power, and it is difficultto keep the management target devices in a low power consumption mode.

Meanwhile, a technique is being considered in which a management targetdevice notifies a management device of its power supply mode when themanagement target device enters a low power consumption mode and whenthe management target device returns from the low power consumptionmode, and the management device, upon receiving the notification,refrains from requesting information from the management target devicewhile the management target device is in the low power consumption modeso as to allow the management target device to stay in the low powerconsumption mode (e.g., Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2006-215686).

However, even if the management target device is to notify themanagement device of the power supply mode, if the notification of thepower supply mode is transmitted to unspecified destinations throughmulticasting, an appropriate TTL value needs to be set relative to a hopcount. If the TTL value is not set appropriately, the notification doesnot reach the management device, and the management target device needsto return from the low power consumption mode. Alternatively, there is atechnique in which a management target device responds to a periodicrequest for information from a management device while the managementtarget device remains in a low power consumption mode, and themanagement target device can respond only to predefined inquiries whilethe management target device is in the low power consumption mode.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is directed to suppressing, as compared to anexisting technique, instances in which a management target devicereturns from a low power consumption mode in response to a request forinformation from a management device.

According to an aspect of the present invention, a management device isconfigured to manage, through a network, at least one management targetdevice having multiple power supply modes, and the management deviceincludes a first obtaining unit configured to obtain a hop count betweenthe management device and the management target device, a secondobtaining unit configured to obtain, from the management target device,a notification destination range of an unspecified notificationpertaining to a power supply mode, a determining unit configured todetermine whether or not the unspecified notification pertaining to thepower supply mode can be received from the management target device onthe basis of the hop count obtained by the first obtaining unit and thenotification destination range obtained by the second obtaining unit,and a requesting unit configured to request the management target deviceto register the management device as an individual notificationdestination on the basis of a determination result of the determiningunit.

Further features of the present invention will become apparent from thefollowing description of exemplary embodiments with reference to theattached drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates an overall configuration of a system.

FIG. 2 illustrates a detailed hardware configuration of the system.

FIG. 3 illustrates a detailed software configuration of the system.

FIG. 4 illustrates content of a packet to be transmitted by a managementtarget device through multicasting.

FIG. 5 illustrates power supply mode types to be notified by themanagement target device.

FIG. 6A illustrates a flowchart of processing carried out at amanagement device side according to a first exemplary embodiment; FIG.6B illustrates a flowchart of processing carried out at a managementtarget device side according to the first exemplary embodiment; and FIG.6C illustrates a flowchart of processing pertaining to a deletionrequest carried out at the management device side according to the firstexemplary embodiment.

FIG. 7 illustrates a management target list.

FIG. 8 illustrates content of a PING packet.

FIG. 9 illustrates possible NIC response patterns.

FIG. 10 illustrates a packet to be transmitted from the managementdevice in order to be registered in an individual notification list.

FIG. 11 illustrates a power supply mode individual notification list.

FIG. 12 illustrates content of a packet for an individual notificationtransmitted by the management target device.

FIG. 13 illustrates a packet issued by a management device requestingthat the management device be deleted from the individual notificationlist.

FIG. 14 illustrates a detailed software configuration of a systemaccording to a second exemplary embodiment.

FIG. 15 illustrates a response packet of a management device respondingto an individual notification from a management target device accordingto the second exemplary embodiment.

FIG. 16 illustrates an individual response list including a responsetime according to the second exemplary embodiment.

FIG. 17 illustrates a flowchart of processing of a communication controlunit according to a third exemplary embodiment.

FIG. 18 illustrates a flowchart of processing of a main body controlunit according to the third exemplary embodiment.

FIG. 19 illustrates a management type list.

FIG. 20 illustrates a flowchart of a periodic update.

DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments for embodying the present inventionwill be described with reference to the drawings. Note that, unlessindicated otherwise, a CPU (computer) in each component of a givendevice carries out operations described hereinafter.

First Exemplary Embodiment

FIG. 1 illustrates an overall configuration of a management system forembodying the present invention. A management device 101 is connected toa management target device 102, such as a printer, through a network103. The management device 101 periodically obtains information, such asa print status, from the management target device 102, which is an imageforming device. The management target device 102 notifies unspecifieddestinations of its power supply mode through multicasting orbroadcasting, which will be described later. Hereinafter, such anotification to an unspecified destination will be referred to as anunspecified notification. The management device 101, which receives thepower supply mode notification, refrains from obtaining information fromthe management target device 102 while the management target device 102is in a low power consumption mode. This allows the management targetdevice 102 to return to a normal power consumption mode from the lowpower consumption mode, as necessary, for carrying out print processingor the like. Here, a protocol, such as the SNMP, for managing devices isused to obtain the aforementioned information. Note that FIG. 1illustrates an example in which a router 104 is provided between amanagement device 101(a) and management target devices 102(a) and102(b), and a router is not provided between a management device 101(b)and the management target devices 102(a) and 102(b). When a TTL value ofthe power supply mode notification transmitted from the managementtarget device 102(a) or 102(b) is set to 0, that notification reachesthe management device 101(b) but does not reach the management device101(a). The TTL value, which is a value that indicates a period forwhich a packet is valid, is expressed by an integer from 0 to 255 and isreduced by one each time a given packet passes through a router or thelike. When the TTL value of a packet becomes 0, that packet isdiscarded.

FIG. 2 illustrates a hardware configuration of the overall system forembodying the present invention. Referring to FIG. 2, a CPU 201 of themanagement device 101 loads a program pertaining to the presentinvention from an HDD 203 onto a memory 202 and executes the program. Anoutput device 205 displays a screen for accepting information, such asan IP address of a management target device 102, necessary for executingthe program. An input device 204 accepts a user input on contentdisplayed on the output device 205. An NIC (communication control unit)206 transmits and receives packets.

The management target device 102 illustrated in FIG. 2 includes a mainbody control unit 210, a communication control unit 220, and a powersupply control unit 230. When a function, such as printing, of the mainbody control unit 210 is to be used, the power supply control unit 230controls power so that the management target device 102 is in a normalpower consumption mode in which power is supplied to the main bodycontrol unit 210 and the communication control unit 220. Meanwhile, whenthe functions of the main body control unit 210 are not to be used, thepower supply control unit 230 controls power so that the managementtarget device 102 is in a low power consumption mode in which power isnot supplied to a primary section of the main body control unit 210 andpower is only supplied to a portion (power supply button (notillustrated)) of a UI operation unit 213 of the main body control unit210 and to the communication control unit 220. A CPU 211 of the mainbody control unit 210 loads a program pertaining to the presentinvention from an HDD 214 onto a memory 212 and executes the program.The UI operation unit 213 accepts device setting information, such as aTTL value described later, from the user and stores the device settinginformation in the HDD 214. A CPU 221 of the communication control unit220 loads a program pertaining to the present invention from a ROM 222onto a RAM 223 and executes the program. An NIC 224 transmits andreceives packets. Note that the power supply control unit 230 maycontrol the power stepwise in three or more power supply modes, insteadof controlling the power between the two power supply modes describedabove.

FIG. 3 illustrates a software configuration for embodying the presentinvention. An ICMP transmitting/receiving unit 301 of the managementdevice 101 transmits and receives a PING packet through the ICMPprotocol. The ICMP is a protocol for transferring an error message or acontrol message of the IP and is used among computers and networkdevices connected through the TCP/IP for confirming the statuses amongone another. A device setting obtaining unit 302 obtains a TTL value ofa power supply mode notification transmitted from the management targetdevice 102 through multicasting. The device setting obtaining unit 302also obtains, from the management target device 102, an NIC responsepattern, which will be described later, for the communication controlunit 220 of the management target device 102 to respond to a requestfrom the management device 101. A notification registering/deleting unit303 requests the management target device 102 to register or delete themanagement device 101 in or from an individual notification list of themanagement target device 102. A device information obtaining unit 304periodically requests information on the power supply mode from themanagement target device 102 except while the management target device102 is in the low power consumption mode. A power supply mode receivingunit 305 receives a power supply mode notification, which will bedescribed later, from the management target device 102. A communicationprocessing unit 306 controls transmission and reception of packets.

A power supply control unit 330 of the management target device 102shuts off power supply to the main body control unit 210 while the mainbody control unit 210 is not carrying out any processing. Meanwhile, thepower supply control unit 330 starts supplying power to the main bodycontrol unit 210 when the main body control unit 210 is to carry outprocessing. A power supply mode notifying unit 324 of the main bodycontrol unit 210 refers to a set value of the TTL value to be used inmulticasting, which is stored in the memory 212 of the main body controlunit 210, when the power supply mode changes, or in other words, whenthe power supply to the main body control unit 210 is shut off and whenthe power supply resumes, to thus generate a power supply modenotification packet for multicasting. A communication processing unit310 transmits the generated power supply mode notification packet. Apower supply mode notification packet 401 for multicasting includes amulticast address, a TTL value, and an attribute indicating the powersupply mode, as illustrated in FIG. 4. FIG. 5 illustrates content of apower supply mode notification 501 to be transmitted by the managementtarget device 102. When the power supply is shut off, the managementtarget device 102 transmits the power supply mode notification packet401 of FIG. 4 in which “SLEEP” is entered under the attribute indicatingthe power supply mode, and when the power supply resumes, the managementtarget device 102 transmits the power supply mode notification packet401 of FIG. 4 in which “WAKEUP” is entered under the attributeindicating the power supply mode. The power supply mode notifying unit324 also notifies an individual destination of the power supply modethrough unicasting, which will be described later. Hereinafter, anotification to an individual destination will be referred to as anindividual notification. An information obtaining responding unit 323responds to a request for device information from the management device101. An ICMP responding unit 320 replies to a request for a PING packetfrom the management device 101. A TTL value to be used in this case is aTTL value for PING set in the management target device 102. A settingobtaining responding unit 321 responds to a request for settinginformation, such as a TTL value and an NIC response pattern, from themanagement device 101. A notification registering/deleting unit 322registers or deletes an individual notification destination of the powersupply mode in or from an individual notification list in response to aregistration request or a deletion request transmitted from themanagement device 101. The individual notification will be describedlater. The communication processing unit 310 of the communicationcontrol unit 220 transmits and receives packets to and from themanagement device 101. An NIC responding unit 311 creates a responsepacket to the management device 101 without using the main body controlunit 210 through an NIC response pattern, which will be described later,in response to an information obtaining request from the managementdevice 101. In other words, as long as a response packet corresponds toa registered NIC response pattern, the NIC responding unit 311 canrespond to the management device 101 without power being supplied to themain body control unit 210.

FIGS. 6A through 6C illustrate flowcharts for embodying the presentinvention. FIG. 6A is a flowchart of processing carried out at themanagement device side. FIG. 6B is a flowchart of processing carried outat the management target device side. FIG. 6C is a flowchart ofprocessing carried out at the management device side when a managementtarget device ceases to be a management target. The processing flow willbe described with reference to FIGS. 6A through 6C. The managementdevice 101 manages the management target device 102 with the use of amanagement target list 701 illustrated in FIG. 7. The management targetlist 701 includes a MAC address and an IP address of each of managementtarget devices, the names of the management target devices, the statusesindicating whether or not the management target devices are availablefor printing, and the power supply modes of the management targetdevices. Upon information, such as the IP address of the managementtarget device 102, inputted through the input device 204 beingregistered in the management target list 701, in step S601 of FIG. 6,the ICMP transmitting/receiving unit 301 of the management device 101generates a PING transmission packet. The generated PING transmissionpacket is transmitted to the management target device 102 by thecommunication processing unit 306 through the network 103. A transmittedPING packet 801 includes a TTL value, as illustrated in FIG. 8, and theTTL value is reduced by one each time the PING packet passes through arouter. In step S602, it is determined whether or not the ICMPtransmitting/receiving unit 301 has received a PING reply packetreturned by the management target device 102. If the ICMPtransmitting/receiving unit 301 has received a PING reply packet fromthe management target device 102, in step S603, the ICMPtransmitting/receiving unit 301 extracts the TTL value from the receivedpacket and stores the TTL value in the memory 202. In step S604, thedevice setting obtaining unit 302 requests a multicast TTL value and aprescribed value for a PING TTL value from the management target device102. Note that the stated multicast TTL value corresponds to anotification destination range of an unspecified notification, and anoperation of obtaining the notification destination range corresponds tosecond obtaining. In step S605, the device setting obtaining unit 302determines whether or not the management target device 102 has respondedto the request for the TTL value, and if the management target device102 has responded to the request, the processing proceeds to step S606.In step S606, the notification registering/deleting unit 303 calculatesthe number of routers through which the packet has passed, or in otherwords, the hop count between the management device 101 and themanagement target device 102 by subtracting the TTL value stored in stepS603 from the prescribed value of the PING TTL value obtained from themanagement target device 102. The stated operation corresponds to firstobtaining. In step S607, the notification registering/deleting unit 303compares the obtained hop count with the multicast TTL value obtained instep S604 so as to determine whether or not the management device 101 iscapable of receiving the multicast power supply mode notificationtransmitted by the management target device 102. If the notificationregistering/deleting unit 303 determines in step S607 that themanagement device 101 can receive the multicast power supply modenotification, the processing is terminated. If the notificationregistering/deleting unit 303 determines in step S607 that themanagement device 101 cannot receive the multicast power supply modenotification, the processing proceeds to step S608.

In step S608, the device setting obtaining unit 302 requests an NICresponse pattern from the NIC responding unit 311 of the managementtarget device 102. The NIC response pattern is structured as illustratedin FIG. 9 and indicates a pattern of a packet to be received and aresponse packet corresponding to the received pattern. For example, in acase in which the management target device 102 receives a packet thatmatches ID 1 in a table 901 illustrated in FIG. 9, the NIC respondingunit 311 transmits a packet with the structure of ID 1 in a table 902 tothe management device 101. If a reply packet is not received in apredetermined period of time in step S602 or in step S605, theprocessing proceeds to step S608. In step S609, the notificationregistering/deleting unit 303 determines whether or not the NIC responsepattern has been obtained from the management target device 102, and ifthe NIC response pattern is not obtained, the processing proceeds tostep S611. If the NIC response pattern has been obtained in step S609,the processing proceeds to step S610. In step S610, the notificationregistering/deleting unit 303 determines whether or not a packet to betransmitted by the management device 101 for obtaining information fromthe management target device 102 matches the obtained NIC responsepattern. The stated operation serves to determine whether or not themanagement target device 102 can carry out response processing only withthe communication processing unit 310 while remaining in the low powerconsumption mode. If it is determined in step S610 that the packetmatches the NIC response pattern, the processing is terminated. If it isdetermined in step S610 that the packet does not match the NIC responsepattern, the processing proceeds to step S611. In step S611, thenotification registering/deleting unit 303 requests the managementtarget device 102 to register the management device 101 for anindividual notification of the power supply mode. The stated individualnotification registration request is made through an SLP packet 1001including an attribute for power supply mode notification registrationillustrated in FIG. 10.

In step S621 of FIG. 6B, the management target device 102 receives therequest for the power supply mode individual notification transmitted bythe management device 101 in step S611. In step S622, the managementtarget device 102 determines whether the received request for theindividual notification is a registration request or a deletion request.If the received request is a registration request, in step S623, thenotification registering/deleting unit 322 stores, as a notificationdestination IP address, the IP address of the management device 101 thathas transmitted the request in an individual notification list 1101,illustrated in FIG. 11, of the management target device 102. Meanwhile,if the received request is a deletion request, in step S624, thenotification registering/deleting unit 322 deletes the IP address of themanagement device 101 that has transmitted the request from theindividual notification list 1101, illustrated in FIG. 11, of themanagement target device 102. In a case in which the management device101 has deleted a management target device from the management targetlist 701 so as to exclude the management target device from themanagement targets, the management device 101 transmits a deletionrequest to that management target device so as to be deleted from thepower supply mode individual notification list.

The individual notification list 1101 is stored in a non-volatilestorage area, such as the HDD 214, and thus the power supply mode can benotified on the basis of the individual notification list 1101 evenafter the management target device 102 is restarted after the powersupply is turned off.

When the power supply mode changes in the management target device 102,the power supply mode notifying unit 324 transmits the multicast powersupply mode notification through the packet 401 illustrated FIG. 4 andalso transmits, to the management device 101, a power supply modenotification 1201 with a designated destination, as illustrated in FIG.12, for each notification destination IP address stored in theindividual notification list 1101 illustrated in FIG. 11. The powersupply mode notification 1201 transmitted by the management targetdevice 102 is similar in content to the power supply mode notification501 illustrated in FIG. 5. Specifically, the management target device102 makes a notification of “SLEEP” when the management target device102 shifts from the normal power consumption mode to the low powerconsumption mode, and makes a notification of “WAKEUP” when themanagement target device 102 returns to the normal power consumptionmode from the low power consumption mode.

Upon receiving the power supply mode notification, the management device101 updates the power supply mode of the corresponding management targetdevice 102 in the management target list 701 illustrated in FIG. 7. Themanagement device 101 checks the power supply mode in the managementtarget list 701 prior to making a periodic information obtaining requestto the management target device 102. While the power supply modeindicates SLEEP, the management device 101 does not make an informationobtaining request, and the management device 101 makes an informationobtaining request while the power supply mode does not indicate SLEEP.Through this configuration, the management device 101 does not make aninformation obtaining request to the management target device 102 whilethe management target device 102 is in the low power consumption mode,and the management target device 102 can thus remain in the low powerconsumption mode for an extended period of time.

In step S631 of FIG. 6C, it is determined whether or not the managementtarget device 102 has been deleted from the management target list 701,and if it is determined that the management target device 102 has beendeleted from the management target list 701, the processing proceeds tostep S632. In step S632, the notification registering/deleting unit 303transmits, to the management target device 102, a packet 1301 having anattribute indicating deletion, as illustrated in FIG. 13, as a deletionrequest. Upon receiving the deletion request, in step S622 of FIG. 6B,the management target device 102 determines whether or not the receiveddeletion request is a deletion request. If the management target device102 determines that the received deletion request is a deletion request,in step S624, the notification registering/deleting unit 322 deletes themanagement device 101 from the individual notification list 1101illustrated in FIG. 11. Through this configuration, the managementtarget device 102 can update the individual notification list 1101stored in a non-volatile storage device in accordance with the actualmanagement status, and transmission of an unnecessary power supply modenotification can be suppressed.

Second Exemplary Embodiment

A second exemplary embodiment will now be described. The networkconfiguration and the hardware configuration of the second exemplaryembodiment are the same as those of the first exemplary embodiment. FIG.14 illustrates a software configuration of the second exemplaryembodiment. In addition to the software configuration of the firstexemplary embodiment, a notification list periodic update unit 325 isfurther provided in the management target device 102, and thus theindividual notification list can be updated periodically. In addition,as compared with the individual notification list 1101 illustrated inFIG. 11, an individual notification list 1601 illustrated in FIG. 16allows a response time at which a response to the power supply modenotification is received from the management device 101 to be recorded.FIG. 20 is a flowchart of processing of periodically updating theindividual notification list 1601. In the second exemplary embodiment,when the management device 101 receives, from the management targetdevice 102, a power supply mode notification issued upon a change in thepower supply mode, the power supply mode receiving unit 305 of themanagement device 101 transmits a response 1501 illustrated in FIG. 15to the management target device 102. Upon receiving the response 1501,the management target device 102 overwrites the final response time inthe individual notification list 1601 illustrated in FIG. 16 with thetime at which the response 1501 has been received.

FIG. 20 is a flowchart of processing of periodically updating theindividual notification list 1601. Upon the periodic update processingat intervals defined in the management target device 102 being started,in step S2001 of FIG. 20, a defined time held in the management targetdevice 102 for determining whether or not to delete a management devicefrom the individual notification list 1601 is obtained. In step S2002 ofFIG. 20, the management target device 102 checks the final responsetimes on the individual notification list 1601, and if there is amanagement device 101 of which the final response time falls after thedefined time obtained in step S2001, the management target device 102deletes that management device 101 from the individual notification list1601. Through this configuration, even if a deletion request is not madeby the management device 101, the number of management devicesregistered in the individual notification list 1601 can be preventedfrom increasing more than necessary.

Third Exemplary Embodiment

The network configuration, the hardware configuration, and the softwareconfiguration of a third exemplary embodiment are the same as those ofthe first or second exemplary embodiment. The third exemplaryembodiment, however, differs from the first or second exemplaryembodiment in that, when the communication control unit 220 of themanagement target device 102 is unable to respond to an informationobtaining request from the management device 101, the main body controlunit 210 of the management target device 102 registers an individualnotification destination of the power supply mode.

The processing of the third exemplary embodiment will be described withreference to flowcharts. First, the processing flow of the communicationcontrol unit 220 of the management target device 102 will be describedwith reference to FIG. 17. When the management target device 102receives an information obtaining request from the management device101, in step S1701, the management target device 102 determines whetheror not the information obtaining request corresponds to an NIC responsepattern (FIG. 9). If it is determined in step S1702 that the informationobtaining request corresponds to an NIC response pattern, the processingproceeds to step S1704. In step S1704, the NIC responding unit 311 ofthe management target device 102 responds to the management device 101in accordance with the NIC response pattern (FIG. 9). If it isdetermined in step S1702 that the information obtaining request does notcorrespond to an NIC response pattern, the processing proceeds to stepS1703. In step S1703, the management target device 102 requests thepower supply control unit 330 to supply power to the main body controlunit 210. Upon being requested to supply power, the power supply controlunit 330 supplies power to the main body control unit 210 so as to wakeup the main body control unit 210. The communication control unit 220then transmits the received packet information to the main body controlunit 210 that has been woken up.

Subsequently, the processing flow of the main body control unit 210 thathas been woken up in step S1703 will be described with reference to theflowchart illustrated in FIG. 18. In step S1801, the main body controlunit 210, which has been woken up by receiving a packet, determines,through the notification registering/deleting unit 322, whether or notthe main body control unit 210 has been woken up by receiving a packetthrough a network. If it is determined in step S1801 that the main bodycontrol unit 210 has not been woken up by receiving a packet through anetwork, the processing is terminated. Meanwhile, if it is determinedthat the main body control unit 210 has been woken up by receiving apacket through a network, the processing proceeds to step S1802. In stepS1802, the notification registering/deleting unit 322 determines whetheror not the content of the received packet indicates management typeprocessing on the basis of a port number or the like. For example, thenotification registering/deleting unit 322 determines whether or not thereceived packet is a management type packet by using a list 1901 ofmanagement type port numbers illustrated in FIG. 19. If it is determinedin step S1802 that the received packet is not a management type packet,the processing is terminated. If it is determined in step S1802 that thereceived packet is a management type packet, the processing proceeds tostep S1803. In step S1803, the notification registering/deleting unit322 determines whether or not a management device 101 that hastransmitted the packet is registered as a notification destination inthe power supply mode individual notification list 1101 or 1601illustrated in FIG. 11 or 16, and if it is determined that themanagement device 101 is registered in the individual notification listas a notification destination, the processing is terminated. Meanwhile,if it is determined in step S1803 that the management device 101 is notregistered in the individual notification list, the processing proceedsto step S1804. In step S1804, the notification registering/deleting unit322 registers the management device 101 in the individual notificationlist. Lastly, in step S1805, the information obtaining responding unit323 creates a response packet to the information obtaining request fromthe management device 101 and responds to the management device 101through the communication processing unit 310. With the third exemplaryembodiment, even in a case in which the management device 101 makes aninformation obtaining request without the management device 101requesting to be registered as an individual notification destination,the management device 101 can receive an individual notification. Inaddition, in a case in which the management target device 102 is wokenup by a print request or the like, the management target device 102 doesnot need to make any registration into the individual notification list.Thus, an unnecessary registration operation can be suppressed bydetermining (step S1802) whether or not a received packet is amanagement type packet.

The exemplary embodiments described above make it possible to suppress,as compared to an existing technique, an instance in which a managementtarget device returns from a low power consumption mode in response to arequest for information from a management device. In addition, themanagement target device can remain in the low power consumption modefor an extended period of time.

Embodiments of the present invention can also be realized by a computerof a system or apparatus that reads out and executes computer executableinstructions recorded on a storage medium (e.g., non-transitorycomputer-readable storage medium) to perform the functions of one ormore of the above-described embodiment(s) of the present invention, andby a method performed by the computer of the system or apparatus by, forexample, reading out and executing the computer executable instructionsfrom the storage medium to perform the functions of one or more of theabove-described embodiment(s). The computer may comprise one or more ofa central processing unit (CPU), micro processing unit (MPU), or othercircuitry, and may include a network of separate computers or separatecomputer processors. The computer executable instructions may beprovided to the computer, for example, from a network or the storagemedium. The storage medium may include, for example, one or more of ahard disk, a random-access memory (RAM), a read only memory (ROM), astorage of distributed computing systems, an optical disk (such as acompact disc (CD), digital versatile disc (DVD), or Blu-ray Disc (BD)™),a flash memory device, a memory card, and the like.

While the present invention has been described with reference toexemplary embodiments, it is to be understood that the invention is notlimited to the disclosed exemplary embodiments. The scope of thefollowing claims is to be accorded the broadest interpretation so as toencompass all such modifications and equivalent structures andfunctions.

This application claims the benefit of Japanese Patent Application No.2013-121840 filed Jun. 10, 2013, which is hereby incorporated byreference herein in its entirety.

What is claimed is:
 1. A management device configured to manage, througha network, at least one management target device having multiple powersupply modes, the management device comprising: a first obtaining unitconfigured to obtain a hop count between the management device and themanagement target device; a second obtaining unit configured to obtain,from the management target device, a notification destination range ofan unspecified notification pertaining to a power supply mode; adetermining unit configured to determine whether or not the unspecifiednotification pertaining to the power supply mode can be received fromthe management target device on the basis of the hop count obtained bythe first obtaining unit and the notification destination range obtainedby the second obtaining unit; and a requesting unit configured torequest the management target device to register the management deviceas an individual notification destination on the basis of adetermination result of the determining unit.
 2. The management deviceaccording to claim 1, wherein the determining unit determines whether ornot a communication processing unit of the management target device cancarry out response processing while the management target device is in alow power consumption mode, and wherein the requesting unit requests themanagement target device to register the management device as theindividual notification destination in a case in which the determiningunit determines that the unspecified notification pertaining to thepower supply mode cannot be received from the management target deviceand that the communication processing unit cannot carry out the responseprocessing while the management target device is in the low powerconsumption mode.
 3. The management device according to claim 1, furthercomprising: a deleting unit configured to delete registration of anindividual notification of a management target device that has ceased tobe a management target.
 4. The management device according to claim 1,wherein the management target device is an image forming device.
 5. Anmanagement system, comprising: at least one management target devicehaving multiple power supply modes; and a management device configuredto manage the at least one management target device through a network,wherein the management device includes: a first obtaining unitconfigured to obtain a hop count between the management device and themanagement target device; a second obtaining unit configured to obtain,from the management target device, a notification destination range ofan unspecified notification pertaining to a power supply mode; adetermining unit configured to determine whether or not the unspecifiednotification pertaining to the power supply mode can be received fromthe management target device on the basis of the hop count obtained bythe first obtaining unit and the notification destination range obtainedby the second obtaining unit; and a requesting unit configured torequest the management target device to register the management deviceas an individual notification destination on the basis of adetermination result of the determining unit, and wherein the managementtarget device includes a registering unit configured to register themanagement device as the individual notification destination pertainingto the power supply mode in response to a request from the managementdevice to register the management device as the individual notificationdestination pertaining to the power supply mode.
 6. The managementsystem according to claim 5, wherein the management target devicefurther includes a power control unit configured to shift the managementtarget device to a normal power consumption mode in a case in which themanagement target device cannot respond to an information obtainingrequest from the management device while remaining in a low powerconsumption mode, wherein the management target device further includesa determining unit configured to determine whether or not to registerthe management device as the individual notification destination on thebasis of content of the received information obtaining request, andwherein, in a case in which the determining unit determines to registerthe management device as the individual notification destination, theregistering unit registers the management device as the individualnotification destination pertaining to the power supply mode.
 7. Themanagement system according to claim 5, wherein the management targetdevice further includes an updating unit configured to periodicallyupdate a list of individual notification destinations pertaining to thepower supply mode on the basis of a final response time.
 8. Themanagement system according to claim 5, wherein the management targetdevice is an image forming device.
 9. A method for controlling amanagement device configured to manage, through a network, at least onemanagement target device having multiple power supply modes, the methodcomprising: first obtaining of a hop count between the management deviceand the management target device; second obtaining of a notificationdestination range of an unspecified notification pertaining to a powersupply mode from the management target device; determining whether ornot the unspecified notification pertaining to the power supply mode canbe received from the management target device on the basis of the hopcount obtained in the first obtaining and the notification destinationrange obtained in the second obtaining; and requesting the managementtarget device to register the management device as an individualnotification destination on the basis of a determination result in thedetermining.
 10. A method for controlling a management system thatincludes at least one management target device having multiple powersupply modes and a management device configured to manage, through anetwork, the at least one management target device, the methodcomprising: first obtaining of a hop count between the management deviceand the management target device; second obtaining of a notificationdestination range of an unspecified notification pertaining to a powersupply mode from the management target device; determining whether ornot the unspecified notification pertaining to the power supply mode canbe received from the management target device on the basis of the hopcount obtained in the first obtaining and the notification destinationrange obtained in the second obtaining; requesting the management targetdevice to register the management device as an individual notificationdestination on the basis of a determination result in the determining;and registering the management device as the individual notificationdestination pertaining to the power supply mode in response to a requestfrom the management device to register the management device as theindividual notification destination pertaining to the power supply mode.11. A storage medium storing a program that causes at least one computerto implement the method according to claim 9.